Broken Apocalypse
by solitaryloner
Summary: Rei Kagamine has been stripped of his demonic powers, his body confined to Hell. Clearly, he's not very happy about this - so when he does something ridiculously stupid in a moment of spite, he's sentenced to clean up his mess, whilst being accompanied by a certain girl who is absolutely terrified of him. Rei's life clearly couldn't get any better. Sequel to Broken Soul, redone.


_**Solitaryloner: **__That's it, I'm redoing this story. I apologise to those who have been following this for a while – it's just that I read back to my old writing, and I'm like wow, what is this? So I figured that I might as well restart and see where it goes. I feel like redoing Broken Soul too, but I'm too lazy – it'll be a project that I'll keep in mind, because I really feel that I can make some revisions to the story plot and make it much better._

_I intend to make a few changes to the original Broken Apocalypse storyline, maybe change the personalities and stuff a little…the biggest change is that this will be the only author's note you will see for the rest of the story. I don't want to explain anything here like I did in Broken Soul or the previous version of Broken Apocalypse – guess and interpret my work at your own discretion. I like to keep people in suspense, so yeah. Have fun!_

* * *

Rei Kagamine was, to put it bluntly, in an absolutely foul mood.

The one thing he had never expected was to be brought back to Hell, in _chains _no less, and be stripped of all his powers. As if being stuck down here was not bad enough, Len had decided to seal Rei's powers away, rendering him no better than a pathetic _mortal._

If Rei had wanted to be as powerless as a human, he wouldn't have allowed Defeat inside him, allowing the entity to use him as a vessel. His teeth were bared lightly into a snarl, but it didn't matter how much he growled at the wall or glowered at anything unfortunate enough to enter his line of sight – nothing was going to change, and he was pretty damn aware of that. _Yeah, like I need to be even more pathetic than I already am._

Being under the control of his intolerable cousin was pathetic enough. Not having his powers to relieve the stress he felt made everything undoubtedly worse. Rei flopped back down on his bed, glaring up at the ceiling of his room. The rock surface stared blankly back at him, and he reached up, hoping for a spark of power…something, anything. But his pale hand remained the same, nothing happening to the grey rock.

_This is…irritating. _His hand pulsed with a faint light, but he ignored that – it wasn't a sign of his powers, it was just a reminder of the chains he had surrounding him. The dark light – a strange oxymoron indeed – that twined itself around his hand slowly twisted upwards, and he hissed as the movement stung his skin. The light metamorphosed into chains, chains which weighed no more than light itself but were there nonetheless, and these bindings were responsible for sealing his powers away, rendering him useless.

_I feel confined, _the sin of Defeat whispered to him, whining in its self-pity. Rei simply ignored the sin, though he couldn't help rolling his eyes – as if whining to him would help with anything. Rei and Defeat were bound, the same way the other cardinal demons were bound to their sins, and no matter how much Defeat complained there was nothing Rei could do to defy Len. The Faceless One reigned supreme over the domain of Hell, and even he could not stand up against the will of their ruler.

_It is ridiculously supremacist, but there is nothing we can do. _Rei let his hand drop back down, placing the back of his hand against his face so that darkness covered his eyes like some kind of blindfold. He was so, so tired – all he ever did while in the depths of Hell was…nothing. He was stuck doing nothing but nothing, and he knew that Len took some sort of sadistic pleasure out of knowing that his cousin was suffering this way.

Rei had originally thought that he escaped the clutches of Hell and the new Faceless One. After all, he had left before everything was settled – he had fled the underground domain and took to Earth, certain that he could not be found by any of the cardinal seven. He was, after all, a demon higher in the demonic hierarchy than all seven of them put together, and if he put his mind to evading capture, then he could do precisely that.

But less than a day later, Rei had suddenly found himself out of the luxurious hotel room he had painstakingly coaxed the receptionist into giving him, and was back in the realm of fire and pain and overall misery – _not a pretty place to live in, that's for certain. _And the very first face he saw, after the world stopped spinning and he registered that he was no longer on Earth, was the dear face of his most favourite cousin, smirking.

It had taken everything Rei had at that moment to not draw his fist back and punch Len in the face, especially after Len had done the exact same thing to him. He had not been aware that the Faceless One was capable of forcibly summoning any demon he wanted to his side, since Dell had never bothered to do that to him before. Nor had he known that the Faceless One could bind specific demons to him, like some sort of ill-behaved pet. The Overlord of Hell could not do that to too many demons, only five a time at most, but Rei was only one demon, and Len was more than happy to chain him to himself.

Rei was not sure how many days he had spent stuck in Hell, unable to move in or out of the realm, but judging from his natural body clock it had been much, much more than just one day. Rei was not confined to just his room while here, but he was willingly locking himself in this place – he refused to step out of his chambers and run into any of the other cardinal demons. Len had stuck Rei on the same level of Hell as the seven cardinal demons, and Rei knew that this was just one form of punishment Len had in store for him – because honestly speaking, Rei was not fond of them, nor them of him.

He was especially not fond of Belphegor and Lucifer, who both apparently had personal bones to pick with him – on the rare occasions he did see fit to venture out of his room, if he ever ran into either Sloth or Pride, the former would simply shoot him a glare that was an amusing mixture of terror and dislike, and the latter would try to murder him. Lucifer usually had to be held back by one of her siblings while Rei stood a safe distance away from the blonde girl, shaking with silent laughter – for she could not kill him.

If anyone dared to do anything to Rei, Len would make them suffer. That was not out of family love, for there was no love lost between Len and Rei – it was simply because Rei was a useful pawn in the game Len was playing, and Len would not lose his chess pieces. Anyway, Len had a fairly twisted way of thinking in that _Len_ was the only one who was allowed to do Rei any bodily harm – he wouldn't let anyone else touch the raven haired demon. Rei wasn't sure if he was expected to be grateful for that protection or not.

Rei now let out a long-suffering sigh of boredom. Even his most basic skills of shifting within the Hell floors had been taken from him, which basically meant he could not leave the deepest level of Hell. Defeat whined in the back of his head, but he ignored the sin, his golden eyes gazing blankly at nothing in particular – he wished there could be some way to leave this damned place, but wishes could only be granted by demons, and he was not a demon anymore. He was simply a human hosting a sin, with none of the demonic abilities or strengths and vulnerabilities that normally came with such a thing.

Well, he wasn't so sure about the vulnerabilities portion…his powers had not been stripped from him in a conventional way, through the usage of holy water. Len had used his newfound skills as the Overlord of Hell to seal up his abilities, and that left Rei a little uncertain as to whether he was considered a demon still, or not. If he felt like a human and was no more powerful than one, did that render him mortal, or would he still be considered a demon? It was a pressing question to which he had no answer.

_Perhaps I should walk around for a bit. That would probably shut Defeat up for a while as well. _Rei was rather reluctant to leave the sanctuary that was his room – it was the only place in the whole of Hell which did not make him feel vulnerable. He could not lie and claim that he didn't feel weak here – when he was powerless in the face of some of the most powerful demons in Hell, he would be mad to state that he felt no difference.

With that in mind, he slid off his bed, absently raking his fingers through his black hair so that it would stay out of his eyes. Stretching his stiff body, he closed his eyes in a familiar, pleasurable pain – it had been too long since he last moved his limbs properly. Perhaps if he had just stayed in bed for a little while longer, he would have petrified into stone. He didn't have any idea where to go, but he just wanted to shut Defeat up – it was always whining about how bored it was, and how it resented being so powerless.

_If you really hate it that much, then find a way to get my powers back from Len! _But, as expected, the sin completely ignored him, choosing to continue wailing in a corner of his mind. Rei let his fingertips lightly massage his forehead, wondering why he had to put up with this every single minute of his miserable mortal life – it made him think about the seven sins, and if the demons who hosted these sins had similar problems to his.

He didn't have any idea where he wanted to go, but thought that he would just figure something out as he went along. Carefully, he stuck his head out of his room, glancing down the passageway – there wasn't anyone outside at the moment, and he let out a sigh of relief, taking his first step out of his room in…well, a while. The last time he left his room was maybe…a week ago? He couldn't be sure, since Night and Day weren't visible in Hell, and the time flowed differently in this realm compared to up on Earth.

Rei turned back to face his room, touching the rock wall lightly with the very tips of his fingers – with a low rumble, a layer of granite came over the entrance, preventing the intrusion of anyone other than himself. The closed entrance would recognise only his touch – this was something the cardinal demons had done to all their rooms after they realised that their siblings had the tendency to steal each other's things. Rei had simply made use of the same mechanism they did, though he hadn't told them he had done so. _If they hadn't wanted me to be able to lock my room, then they shouldn't have charmed every single cavern in their dwellings to begin with. _It had been easy for Rei to configure the charm to suit his touch – since the spell had already been in place, Rei simply had to rework the spell to his touch, and that didn't require any powers or magic on his part.

Satisfied that no one would enter his room – there was no reason for the cardinal demons to pay him a visit, but it was better to be safe than sorry – he decided to just walk down the spiralling rock passageway until the junction, and decide where to go from there. One confusing thing about Hell was that the passageways here were constantly shifting and changing – it had to be because of the whimsical nature of its new ruler. A familiar route could lead to somewhere completely different the next day.

As he walked down the passageway, the entrances on either side of him leading to the rooms of the cardinal seven, he let his fingers trail across the worn stone walls, feeling the warmth and coiled energy that permeated Hell. The sparks of time and magic flowed into his fingers, and though the power was immediately sucked greedily away by the chains which bound him, it at least gave him the illusion that he wasn't completely helpless. He hankered after the day he would get free from these chains Len had placed on him, but he didn't think that day would come any time soon. He didn't see any reason why Len would set him free from his binds, and he could not wriggle out by himself.

The rooms of the seven were all sealed, which indicated that they were most likely all up on the mortal realm, fulfilling their duties. Majority of the sins they represented were carried out on a daily basis anyway – the demons were always out there, watching out for the sinners, watching carefully and waiting for them to sin to the point of no return. At this point, the demons would reveal themselves and offer a bargain, solely with the intent to trap the souls and devour them in Hell, to be punished for evermore.

Of course, the demons did not trap and tempt the very moment a cardinal sin was committed. That would imply that even the slightest hint of vanity or lust or envy, _anything _at all, would warrant an afterlife of misery and fear – and that wasn't the case in the slightest. All humans carried some hint of the seven sins within their being anyway, and it was natural for the sins to be committed by people every day. It was fine, perfectly normal and perfectly acceptable, so long as they were kept to a minimum.

It was only when a sin was experienced in _excess_, when it started to consume the very person's soul, turning them into little more than a vessel for the cardinal sin, when the demon would see fit to interfere, because that would be the point of no return, and there would be no forgiveness awaiting the person even if he did not accept their bargain – because when a person's soul was consumed by sin that way, they lost their soul and turned into a slave of Hell, the gates of Heaven eternally barred to him.

That much was what Rei understood. He knew a great deal more about demons and Hell than what anyone would expect, especially since he had not had much experience with his new state of being. Even now, his immaturity was a sore point, and he had much less control over his volatile powers than the other demons, even in the older lesser ones. Defeat was the one who triggered the sporadic outbursts of magic, and in a way Rei was thankful that Len had taken his powers away, because then his eyes would stop turning red during the most inconvenient situations. He still wasn't happy about it, though.

The original seven sins had once been locked away in Pandora's Box, and were released because Pandora was a curious woman, and hadn't been able to resist the temptation of opening the box…likewise, Mankind had been cast out of Eden because Eve had given in to the temptation of biting the Apple of Knowledge. And, much less known, Lucifer had fallen from Heaven because she had given in to the temptation of killing Elijah, allowing her jealousy to get the better of her, proving that even angels were not infallible.

Women were always the ones who were blamed for the souring of situations, not that he understood why. Perhaps there was a reason for that, a reason why they were being suppressed that way – he didn't particularly care about the philosophy of mankind and the world, but it was certainly an interesting topic to think about, since he had nothing to do while in the depths of Hell. "Maybe Len would know this answer better than I ever would," he murmured to himself, a faint smirk flitting across his lips – one thing he could be certain of was that Len was well-acquainted with the physique of women.

Suddenly, his fingers dipped out into empty air, and he stopped, his lips parting slightly in surprise. He turned to face the wall, his hand returning to his side, and realised that there was no granite wall covering the entrance of this room. _So someone is inside…_he glanced up at the room, looking back down at the passageway, and realised belatedly that this was the room of a certain teal haired demon. His eyebrows lifted slightly as he pursed his lips, wondering if he should enter the room. The door was wide open…

_It's not like I have anything better to do, anyway, _he reasoned with himself, and Defeat purred at the back of his mind, satisfied with the idea of asserting its dominance over the lesser sin hosted by Belphegor – _despite it being completely powerless at the moment. _Rei wanted to snort at how competitive his sin could be; Defeat could not resist the temptation of a win, of completely crushing the hopes of another person, of destroying any semblance of power they had – but how could it do that when it was powerless itself at this moment? Of course, Defeat didn't bother thinking so far ahead.

Nevertheless, Rei shook his head and stepped into the cavern, wondering what the demon was up to. Belphegor…he wasn't surprised she wasn't up on the surface with the rest of her siblings, since her sin was not one that was felt as commonly as the other six. Defeat coiled up in the back of his mind like some kind of satisfied pet cat at the thought of the upcoming confrontation, and the pleasure his sin felt passed on to him as well – unbidden, a smirk crossed his face. _Oh, but this will be a fun distraction, and it'll be even better since her siblings aren't around to back her up. _He hadn't missed the flicker of fear that would enter her eyes whenever she saw him – he found it highly entertaining.

What danger could Rei, a demon without any powers whatsoever, pose to one of the cardinal seven? Nevertheless, she feared him, and that made a little thrill of satisfaction run through his body – that despite being weak and almost no different from a mortal, he could still frighten someone. There was something rather _exhilarating _about being able to inspire terror in another person, no matter how slight the fear, because it meant that in a way, he still wielded power. In a way, he was not completely weak and useless.

Belphegor was reading a book on her bed – her whole room was filled entirely with books, and he had pretty much managed to figure out that she was fond of reading, if her room wasn't indication enough of that preference. She looked up as he entered, his footsteps a low shuffle against the rock floor, and a quick look of panic flitted across her face as she realised it was him – she hastily set the book down, wariness in her green eyes as she stared at him. "What do you want, Defeat?" she spoke, voice hostile.

He knew, no matter how tough she tried to seem, how hostile she sounded, that she was scared of him, and for some reason she would always be scared of him, despite him being completely unable to harm her in any way now. "Nothing much, Belphegor…can't I just drop by and say hello to my prospective cousin-in-law?" he shrugged, enjoying the faint blush he saw on her face at his words. This was too easy. It was too easy to agitate her and entertain himself. Perhaps he should have come to bother her earlier.

"You speak out of hand," she said sharply, her green eyes narrowing at him. "And you still have not said why you're in my room, especially after days and days of holing yourself up in _yours. _What business do you have with me? Don't give me that nonsense about saying hello, you are not so kind," the silence that came after she stopped speaking was an expectant sort of silence, and it just heightened his own sense of dramatic suspension and his entertainment. Belphegor looked almost nervous as she waited for his answer.

"Oh, I was bored, if you really must know the reason why I am here," he said lightly, flicking his black hair out of his eyes, a carefully casual gesture which screamed to her just how _much _he didn't care about her wishes. "I thought you might provide decent fun, and sure enough you do," his lips tilted upwards, forming his trademark infuriating smirk, and he knew that irritated her – he could see the way her green eyes darkened, how her lips twisted into a frown, brief anger making itself known on her face.

"I'm not a plaything for you, Defeat, and I do not appreciate you being in my room," she said sharply, finally deciding to ignore him – she picked her book up and returned to the page she was at, using the book to hide her face from him. Rei's smirk just widened as he remained in the room, observing her quietly – she was just making it easier for him to work her up into a fluster. He knew exactly which buttons to press to make her flare up, and he knew exactly how to embarrass her. She was too easily annoyed, that was one of her flaws, and if this wasn't the case he wouldn't be able to influence her so much.

"If you didn't want me in your room, you shouldn't have left the door open," he pointed out snidely, enjoying this banter though he was aware that Belphegor was anything but entertained. Belphegor peeped up over the edge of her book at him, her green eyes filled with seething fury – but she didn't dare to say anything because she was frightened of him, and that still amused him. Defeat was gloating over how it had _defeated _her – she was unable to retort, rendered mute by her own irrational terror of a powerless man.

She was curled up in bed, her long teal hair untied and pooling all over the bed-sheet. His gaze flicked over her, taking in every aspect of her body, and his mind dully acknowledged why his cousin might be so fond of her. Even he could not deny that Belphegor was an attractive girl – _though she is a demon and not just a girl _– and as he had always known, Len had a particular weakness for beautiful women. He didn't love them, only using them to meet his goals, but even so the women he selected were always attractive.

Perhaps what Len felt towards Belphegor was more than logical. Rei didn't know, nor did he particularly care – he was only interested because if Len really did care more for her than he did other women, then taunting Belphegor would easily be a simple way to get back at his cousin for sealing his powers away. "You are a brat," Belphegor finally said in response to his jibe, her voice neutral – he could tell that she was trying very hard to rein in her barbs, though he had no idea why she would do such a thing. "It makes me understand all the more why Len has never been particularly fond of you."

"His fondness for me would diminish in comparison to his feelings for you," he answered smoothly, rendering her speechless for a moment there. He was enjoying himself more than he had for the past few days, and wondered if bantering with the other six cardinal demons would bring similar results. Or maybe this was only so fun because she was frightened of him…he didn't think the others regarded him with any more than a grudging kind of respect. "Why aren't you with him now anyway? I thought you two were always together, trying to produce an heir to the realm or something."

Her pale cheeks flamed crimson this time, and Rei acknowledged that this comment might have been a little too suggestive for Belphegor, who was ridiculously naïve when it came to these matters. At least, that was the impression he got from her. "You should just stop talking and get out!" she shrieked at him, throwing her book down and forcibly shoving him out of the room – he went willingly, a smile on his face the whole time, and the moment he was shoved out into the passageway the granite door slammed down, preventing him from entering her room again. Rei just sighed, brushing himself down.

_Well, that was fun while it lasted, don't you agree, Defeat? _The sin seemed to approve, and Rei glanced at the closed cavern again – he would be back, now that he knew how amusing interacting with his cousin's little girlfriend would be. It was a pleasant little diversion, but he had not forgotten his original intentions – he should walk around this floor a little, see what else he could find. There had been a particular entrance he had stumbled across before on this floor of Hell, back when Dell Honne was the one in charge, and he still had his powers…a particular chamber overflowing with power, and even if he could not wield that power now, feeling it around him would comfort him.

The chambers of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, hidden in some obscure corner of the deepest level of Hell – the strongest demons in Hell, the ones who were the highest in the demonic hierarchy, were all located on the deepest floor. There were the demons representing the seven deadly sins, there was _him, _the demon of Defeat, there was the Overlord of Hell himself…and finally, there were the Four Horsemen.

The Four Horsemen were ranked underneath him, but above the seven demons. He knew the four well enough to drop by and make small talk whenever he came back to Hell – usually at Dell's behest – but ever since Len took charge and the passageways of this realm got confused and muddled, he hadn't been able to find his way to the chambers of the Horsemen. Rei was determined to find the Four again, since he truly did have nothing better to do while he was here. _Might as well make more small talk, huh?_

He glanced up as his feet brought him to the familiar junction. While he thought, he had walked without direction, and now he was at a crossroads in Hell which would bring him to some place completely different…Hell itself was a torturous maze determined to make its inhabitants suffer. This was just in case one of the damned souls ever managed to escape – it had happened, though rarely – they would still be unable to make their way out to the upper floors, for without thorough knowledge of the maze here, no one could get to anywhere, cursed to remain wandering around in endless circles forever.

There were four different possible paths he could take. One would lead back to the rooms he just left. One would lead to Len's office, which he was determined to avoid for now. One would lead to the upper floors – though this wasn't as straightforward a path as it sounded – and the last one would lead him to where he wanted to go. Well, it would lead him in that general direction anyway…he would still have to navigate the twisting spirals of the maze, but he would be going down the right pathway. Rei didn't know which path to pick since all four looked exactly the same from where he was standing.

In the end, he chose the leftmost one, shrugging carelessly as his feet took him down the passageway – even if he got lost, he would always end up back at his room eventually. The rooms were the heart of this floor, and like all mazes, every single path ultimately led back to the heart of the maze. Rei was painfully aware of how greatly he resembled a lost soul wandering the maze, and hoped that none of the other cardinal demons would come back and notice this. He missed the days where he could just…appear wherever he wanted to. _But that ability is gone, so I have no choice other than to rely on foot, have I?_

Entertainment could come with ridiculous prices sometimes, but he was used to that. He wondered where he would end up with this route, and hoped that it would be at the right destination this time. He tired of always getting lost in a place he ought to be familiar with, and his patience was fast wearing thin. This was perhaps the fifth time he had tried to find the chambers of the Four Horsemen after he was locked away here. He would not allow himself to be defeated – Defeat was his demon, but he would not be conquered by himself. _That doesn't even make any sense, does it, Defeat?_

His palms were still flat against the stone wall, and he could feel the warm hum of pain and suffering under his skin, flowing along the rock like it was lifeblood. It was time he left his room to explore the strange beauties of his current home, and he supposed that he rather liked this. He enjoyed the darkness, the smell of misery and suffering – he found it just, for the people here were sinners and they deserved to rot in agony.

_What possible place could be better for my sin? Defeat relishes itself here, because the people here are filled with Defeat._ That was the fate of a sinner after all – to be relegated to an afterlife of eternal repentance and hopelessness. _How silly of them, to give in to an external influence during the span of their mortal lives._

If only he could have his powers back. If he did, he knew his exploration of his home would be more entertaining than it was now, stuck as he was without any supernatural assistance. It was tiring, even more so when he knew what he wanted – it was not the process of deciding which was difficult, rather it was the process of getting there.

_But other than that, I see no problem with Hell. I don't think I'll ever understand the desire demons have to roam aboveground – in a place filled with so much hopelessness and defeat, what better feast would one have than in the very depths of Hell itself? _Then again, this was relevant only to Rei, since other demons did not use defeat as their sustenance, unlike him. Nevertheless, he found Hell to be a pleasant alternative to his mortal home. A home where his mother didn't care, a home where he was never seen as the first, but always as the second…he sealed the many unwanted memories away, gritting his teeth, thinking to other more important things. He could see a faint light now in the dark…

_I wonder what awaits me at the end of this tunnel. _It was a strangely Biblical allusion, and that alone seemed to bring with it an ill sense of foreboding, especially since the Bible held plenty of truths for a demonic being such as him – but he brushed that aside. The Bible was the Bible, and Hell and Heaven themselves were both Biblical references – did he really have to think about ill omens and bad luck? The light at the end of the tunnel…but this was not a tunnel really, it was a passageway. _I suppose that when people are underground, a passageway and a tunnel do not exactly differ very much._

Maybe he had found what he was searching for, maybe not. _Let us wait and see._


End file.
